The end of the Krakoa Era is here as we are now at the final chapter of the Fall of the House of X. Gerry Duggan and Lucas Werneck have been largely focused on the threat of Nimrod and the Omega Sentinel. Things have gotten worse with Charles Xavier joining Orchis ranks to help Nimrod and Omega Sentinel in eliminating humanity. From Xavier’s perspective this was a final attempt to save the mutant race. How will things go in these final chapters of the Krakoa Era? Let’s find out with Fall of the House of X #5.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Lucas Werneck and Stefano Caselli
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: Travis Lanham
FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X #5 SOLICITATION
“THE BATTLE FOR THE FUTURE! It all comes down to this – Orchis versus the X-Men, winner take the future! Orchis has pushed mutantkind to their lowest point ever, but that just means the X-Men have had to fight back like never before. Will it be enough? We continue to barrel toward the conclusion of the Krakoan Age as the two stories that are one come to an end!” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
Fall of the House of X #5 was as action packed as any chapter in this crossover that we’ve gotten. Given how much build up there has been this is what the final issue of this mini-series needed to be. All of the talk and set-up is mostly over. Though we do still have some set-up that was necessary for the final two chapters of this crossover happening over in Rise of the Powers of X #5 and Uncanny X-Men #700.
For what Fall of the House of X #5 needed to be Gerry Duggan, Lucas Werneck, and Stefano Caselli nailed what they needed to do. The battle against the Omega Sentinel and Nimrod has been the clear focus of this mini-series. And given that the X-Men have been all dealing with this threat it is only right that they are the ones that handle this threat. If it was Charles Xavier, Phoenix, or someone else it would’ve felt cheap.
Which is where all of the big moments that are delivered hit. No doubt Duggan, Werneck, and Caselli were aiming to give us a bunch of different fan moments to mark out over. There were so many different pairings teaming up against Omega Sentinel and Nimrod that there is at least one or more that will hit for X-Men fans.
The ones that stood out the most were Magneto and Polaris, Cyclops and Storm, and Storm and Synch. These three team-ups during Fall of the House of X #5 tapped into these characters developments throughout the Krakoa era. With Magneto and Polaris we’ve see their familial relationship strengthen during this time. So Polaris would understandably be emotional about teaming up with her father for what could be the final battle.
The Cyclops and Storm combo was much quicker but just as effective. Cyclops had his “give them the forecast” moment as Nimrod grew overconfidence because it overpowered the X-Men. When Storm showed up it did feel like the entire battle flipped to our heroes side. Cyclops proceeding to block Nimrod’s attack with his optic blast to give Storm an opening to attack. It was a cool quick combo move.
This led into the well deserved moment of Synch linking up with Storm’s powers so they could both attack Nimrod with he Omega-level power. Synch has easily been one of the most developed characters in the Krakoa Era. Which made his small role in this crossover frustrating. At the same time, this also made it even more special that Synch was able to team-up with Storm to be the one to put the finishing blow to Nimrod.
The development with Omega Sentinel losing the Sentinel side of herself so only her human side, Karima, remains was a head scratcher. It was certainly not a development that was expected. Though just leaving Karima alone while still having her Omega Sentinel cybernetics was certainly a choice. This is one of those developments that will be “TBD” for how good or bad it will be. The follow-up will be key to how this will be looked back on.
The final moments of Fall of the House of X #5 did a solid job establishing what Rise of the Powers of X #5 and Uncanny X-Men #700 will be dealing with. It was odd that we still saw Doctor Stasis around given that Emma Frost and Firestar seemingly killed him in Fall of the House of X #3. Seeing Doctor Stasis and Feilong around are characters that should’ve already been dealt with.
That said, the threats that we do have to look forward to seeing how they’ll be dealt with are Charles Xavier and Moira MacTaggert. They are the ones that kicked off the entire Krakoa era. So it is only right for things to end with them getting their comeuppance for everything they have done. With all the build up around Jean Grey’s return as the Phoenix it does appear she will be the one to end things. Which sets things up to come full circle as it is Xavier’s first student who will be the one to decide everything.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Fall of the House of X #5 does its job of wrapping up the threat of Nimrod, Omega Sentinel, and the Sentinel City. In the process the X-Men ashow what makes them a strong team with their epic win over Orchis. The way this concludes sets up the final two chapters of this X-Men crossover to deliver a true end for the Krakoa Era and begin something new.
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
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